あぶら

Japanese

Alternative spellings
油膏脂

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油

Wikipedia ^ja

Etymology

Ultimately derived from Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *anpura. As a surface analysis, this is identical to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “incomplete form”) of verb 炙る (aburu, “to warm, to toast”); while this term and the verb are clearly related, whether the mizenkei is the actual derivation of the noun is as yet unclear.

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) あぶら [àbúrá] (Heiban – [0])^[1]^[2]
IPA^(key): [a̠bɯ̟ɾa̠]

Noun

あぶら • (abura)

油, 膏: oil
脂: fat
脂: skin oil
- 1996, “田園”, 玉置浩二 (lyrics), performed by 玉置浩二:
  
  アブラにまみれて　黙(だま)り込(こ)んだあいつ
  abura ni mamirete damarikonda aitsu
  the silent fellow covered in sweat (oily perspiration)

Idioms

油(あぶら)を売(う)る (abura o uru): waste time

References

^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[DJR-1] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-2] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

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[2]